Be Charitable

"Charity is certainly greater than any rule. Moreover, all rules must lead to charity." -St. Vincent de Paul

“Be charitable.” If I told you that, what would you think I meant? The word charity is linked to a lot of things—people who are famous for giving up their possessions, doing great things that you don't think you'd be able to live up to. Or maybe you just don't want to try it—come on, we're all human and don't give things up easily. I have a hoard of books in my room that I haven't even read yet, however it would be difficult to let them go. There have been times I could donate a few, but I wasn't strong enough.

TAttachment to possessions is a whole different subject altogether. What I'm talking about is the virtue of charity. According to St. Paul, charity is the greatest of virtues—because charity means love. All the searches I do regarding charity bring me to 1 Cor 13:1-3, in which he doesn't use the word charity, but love. I think that makes it a little easier to understand, because we all know what love is. So let's translate: The greatest virtue is love. But why? In the passage from 1 Corinthians, St. Paul puts it this way:

If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give away all I have, and if I deliver my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing.

Love is the greatest virtue, and charity is love. It is the most important virtue, because God is love. Jesus said there were two most important laws, and both of them involved love:

And he said to him, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it, You shall love your neighbor as yourself. Matt 22:37-39

Charity/love is important because it is a commandment. We shall love the Lord and our neighbors as well. But what is love, you ask? It's a necessary element to have a successful relationship with anyone—parents, siblings, children, co-workers, acquaintances. Without love, we have nobody to hold us through the bad times. Without love, we have nothing—because the greatest poverty, I think, is to not have a shoulder to cry on. Note: Charity can also be letting a person be that shoulder to cry on. Don't be too proud to accept help. 

I could give my books to charity, but if I did it without love—if I did it only because everyone else is doing it and I need to fit in, then what am I doing? This is not a reason for me to keep more than I need. But it's an example for the point I'm trying to make. When you start giving things freely and feeling joy because of it, that's true love—that is Charity. You're not a bad person if you don't feel like you can go on a mission trip, or give up things that belong to you. Just pray for the desire to give when you find someone in need—the Lord can soften even a heart that is of stone. It'll probably take time and a lot of tears before you, or even I, understand.

We all feel love for our parents and siblings—but, as the Bible says, we have to love our enemies as well. Not necessarily in giving physical gifts, because that doesn't scratch the surface of charity. Charity is when you are able to look past appearances, and see Jesus instead. That's why it's the greatest of virtues! How you treat another person becomes how you are treating the Lord Himself. So if I told you to “be charitable,” I'd actually be saying “love your neighbor.” And how do you do that? Again, the answer can be found in 1 Corinthians 13:4-8, that classic passage:

Love is patient and kind; love is not jealous or boastful; it is not arrogant or rude. Love does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrong, but rejoices in the right. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends; as for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away.

That's a lot to take in, but with prayer and practice, it'll shape us into the Christians we're supposed to be. We have got to be Christ to others, and we have got to treat others like Christ. This is love, charity, whatever word you prefer—and it's not easy, because you've got to feel it. But once you get on the path to perfect love (we will never achieve perfect love in this life) I tell you, it's worth the journey. I also tell this to myself, because I'm not perfect; there are moments where I could be kinder or more patient.

And the King will answer them, 'Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brethren, you did it to me.' Matt 25:40

I didn't tell you to be charitable. Jesus did when he spoke of the greatest commandment. Go out there now and do it—put into practice the greatest virtue of them all. With His help, it is possible—and so, so worth it. Love is worth it.

-Mariella

Introduction: The Virtues of a Holy Life

Human virtues are firm attitudes, stable dispositions, habitual perfections of intellect and will that govern our actions, order our passions, and guide our conduct according to reason and faith. They make possible ease, self-mastery, and joy in leading a morally good life. The virtuous man is he who freely practices the good. CCC #1804

I've been a blogger for a long time. The topic I always return to, and which probably annoys my readers, is speaking up. If you believe in something, stand for it because—the old cliché puts it best—if you don't stand for something, you'll fall for anything. I can't think of a worst reason to fall than because you never had anything to hold onto for balance.

Here at Mary's Compass, we stand for the Truth—Jesus, and we get to know a lot about him from his mother. What we want more than anything from our ministry is to inspire readers to stand for worthwhile things. We want to teach young people—not just girls, even though the blog is admittedly very feminine in nature—the great satisfaction that comes from knowing the firm truth. You won't make it very far without an anchor, and what better anchor than Jesus?

We want to inspire the next generation of saints and speakers. If we don't pass a message of hope onto our own generation, how will the one after know hope at all? We believe there's a better path--it's just that this path looks different for everyone. We all fight our own battles, each stage of life involving unique struggle. However, the Narrow Path always consists of a mortal soul aspiring for traits that make them holier. It involves blood, sweat, and tears--which is why people tend to avoid the Narrow Path; they think it's a really bad thing, and that those following said path only want to inflict more suffering on themselves than necessary.

(Those traits can be found in the Beatitudes and in the Virtues as taught in the Catechism.)

To be more specific, we at Mary's Compass want to teach you what it means to aspire for holiness. Yes, it might be painful to put these traits into action. Don't lose hope, for this pain will lead to beautiful things. It's worth it!

To know what we're talking about in this blog, you might want a Bible (preferrably NAB or RSV) and a Catechism. You could also just search for things on the web, or we'll post links to what we're referencing if it's a long excerpt and it's available online.

This post is an introduction, so you know what we're covering.

What is virtue, you ask?

Virtue is a habitual and firm disposition to do good. CCC #1833

Good involves aspiring for the traits I mentioned earlier. These traits can be applied to all aspects of life--and they should be. It isn't just another list of things not to do. We know and want to tell you: Life will  have true happiness if you start living them out. They'll demand a lot of change, because what's better isn't by any means easier. This is why people tend to choose the easy path, only to reach the end broken and miserable. While the Narrow Path involves blood, sweat, tears, we will become works of art. We'll have let God perfect us.

The human virtues are stable dispositions of the intellect and the will that govern our acts, order our passions, and guide our conduct in accordance with reason and faith. They can be grouped around the four cardinal virtues: prudence, justice, fortitude, and temperance. CCC #1834

There are three theological virtues: faith, hope, and charity. They inform all the moral virtues and give life to them. CCC #1841 

The seven gifts of the Holy Spirit bestowed upon Christians are wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, piety, and fear of the Lord. CCC #1845

Confusing? We'll talk about these more, so it doesn't sound like a checklist. When lived out, you'll find they all come together into one thing: Holiness.

Chastity is emphasized by a lot of Christians. As a result, people forget there are other qualities that need attention as well. Of course it's important, and everyone needs to work on it—don't stop teaching about chastity—but if you're not telling kids in youth groups about the whole package, chastity will be a lot harder to carry out. It's all balance to paint a beautiful picture; too much blue will drown out the other colors that make a person unique.

If only youth leaders would teach about the other qualities, too! Young people should also start reading up on these things. There's more to life than chastity, even though it's important. We cannot achieve chastity without first observing the virtues, because it is actually a Gift of the Holy Spirit (which we will also cover) and,

They [the Gifts of the Holy Spirit] complete and perfect the virtues of those who receive them. They make the faithful docile in readily obeying divine inspirations. CCC 1831

Finally, the Catechism lists charity as the greatest of the Virtues:

"If I . . . have not charity," says the Apostle [Paul], "I am nothing." Whatever my privilege, service, or even virtue, "if I . . . have not charity, I gain nothing."103 Charity is superior to all the virtues. It is the first of the theological virtues: "So faith, hope, charity abide, these three. But the greatest of these is charity."104 

The practice of all the virtues is animated and inspired by charity, which "binds everything together in perfect harmony";105 it is the form of the virtues; it articulates and orders them among themselves; it is the source and the goal of their Christian practice. Charity upholds and purifies our human ability to love, and raises it to the supernatural perfection of divine love. CCC 1826-1827

So you'll be seeing a lot on the Beatitudes, Virtues, and Gifts of the Holy Spirit. Taking up examples from all over the world, we will show them lived out in their finest, because they lead to a life of holiness--and a holy life is a happy one. Think of yourself as a sculpture, and each of these traits can only come from God molding you to perfection--as CS Lewis put so beautifully in Mere Christianity:

And this is precisely what Christianity is about. This world is a great sculptor's shop. We are the statues and there is a rumour going round the shop that some of us are some day going to come to life.

The pain that comes from correcting one's faults--that's how we come to life. That's how we become perfect. We should aspire to perfection--nobody is perfect, but that doesn't mean we can't try to be the best we can be.

No one blogging here pretends to be perfect, even though we've taken on this project. We are improving even as we write all these entries. We aren't afraid of questions--feel free to ask us, if any come up. One thing is for certain: Virtue is a happy life, leading to holiness, and holiness makes saints.

Thank you for reading, and there will be more soon!
-Mariella (Visit Website)

Welcome!

Welcome to Mary's Compass! It's our hope that in the posts to follow, you'll find something to apply to your own life--a quote, a truth, a nice poem.

The authors come from diverse backgrounds, and some are guest bloggers. However, we have one goal in mind: To follow the path to New Life, the better life, in guidance of the Blessed Mother. We want to tell you about what we find on the way. Joy isn't meant to be kept to oneself.

We hope that Christians of all denominations will read our findings, because even though the title is Mary's Compass, this is a joy that ought to be shared by everyone who believes in Jesus Christ and the peace He left for all of us.

The truth is, it felt wrong to start a blog about purity and avoid consecrating it to His Mother, the purest creature of all. Hopefully our differences don't conflict so much that fellow brothers and sisters will avoid us. Our title is not meant to be a war cry in any way--quite the opposite.

As each blogger introduces him/herself, we will update the About page. We look forward to sharing this journey with you.

Blessings,
Mariella Hunt
(Visit my Website!)